Disney+ is finally coming to the Philippines!

It’s still a ways off as it’s slated to be formally made available during the middle of November this year but the wait is finally over. I know a lot of people in my country have been salivating at all of the available content that the streaming service has to offer. Even someone as myself, who’s not a huge Disney fan, have been wanting the service to be made available in the Philippines for a good long while now. There aren’t exactly a ton of shows I personally want to see but the mere fact that it has Gargoyles, one of my favorite cartoons ever, is more than enough to make me consider shelling out my hard earned cash just so I can watch it again. Heck, I didn’t even consider the other shows and movies that Disney has under its banner, like the Simpsons, Disenchanted, The Mandalorian and even the WWE, for some strange reason. It does seem like a good deal overall.

Disney’s catalog of movies, television shows and cartoons are more than extensive. After all, Disney isn’t just Disney these days. It’s a vast conglomerate of other media outlets such as Marvel, LucasFilm, National Geographic, Fox and probably a few dozen other companies I’m forgetting. And a lot of the programs these other companies have made are also either on or going to be on the Disney+ service in the Philippines and all around the world.

But not everything will be there.

There are still going to be a few movies that will not be selectable on Disney+ here or anywhere else in the world for one reason or another. The strange thing is these films are out there in one form or another but Disney simply refuses to make them available. So, just off the top of my head, here are three movies Disney will never add to Disney+. Ever.

#1 Song of the South

Let’s get the most obvious one out of the way…

You would think Disney would be super proud of their 1946 movie Song of the South. The film garnered them an Oscar for Best Song with Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah, one of their more memorable songs. One of the actors, James Franklin Baskett, was also awarded an Honorary Academy Award for his role as Uncle Remus.

Yet Disney even mentioned that Song of the South has been “retired” and will never be added to Disney+. Why? Because, according to the head of Disney himself, Bob Iger, Song of the South is “not appropriate for today’s world.” That’s because of the film’s depiction of Uncle Remus and the other people of color after the American Civil War. This is a really touchy subject and has become pretty divisive regarding Disney’s choice to never make Song of the South available for anyone to see. Some see the film as problematic as it shows a sanitized version of what life was like for people of color after the abolition of slavery. Some see it as a cultural artifact and Disney is trying to sweep it under the rug and pretend it doesn’t even exist.

Well, that was a bummer. Thankfully, the next couple are a little more silly as to why they’ll never be on Disney+.

#2 Roger Corman’s Fantastic Four

When Disney purchased 20th Century Fox a while back, Marvel fans were elated as this meant Disney also bought the movie rights to the X-Men and the Fantastic Four. Even as early as now, we’ve seen Disney trying to re-integrate these properties into the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe with the introduction of mutants in Ms. Marvel and a cameo of Mr. Fantastic from the Fantastic Four in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. This also meant that Disney+ will have all of the live-action X-Men and Fantastic Four movies, right?

Well, no. I wish it was the atrocious Fan4stic. Rather, it’s the Roger Corman version of the Fantastic Four.

Now, the reason why Disney will never show Roger Corman’s Fantastic Four film is quite easy to explain: it wasn’t made to be seen in the first place. This movie was just made so that Constantin Films, who got the rights to make a live-action movie based on the Fantastic Four, could keep the license. Basically, the deal was that Constantin Films could hold onto the Fantastic Four license as long as they made one movie during a set time period. With time expiring soon, they hired Roger Corman, B-movie extraordinaire, to fast-track a movie just to keep the license. This has been disputed as a representative of Constantin Films said they committed to releasing the film while it was in production and it was Marvel who ordered them to shelve the project.

Whatever the reason, Roger Corman’s Fantastic Four was made but never formally released to the public. However, bootleg copies of the film has leaked out and it actually widely available on YouTube and other streaming sites. So, yeah, it’s not on Disney+ but it is out there for everyone to see. Which is more than I can say for the next entry…

#3 The Theatrical Versions of the Original Star Wars Trilogy

Ah, Star Wars. Probably the biggest sci-fi property Disney messed up for a lot of people. A lot of people have blamed the House of Mouse for messing around with Star Wars too much, leading to it’s downfall. Oh, it’s still alive and well, thanks to projects like critically acclaimed shows like The Mandalorian, Andor and Star Wars: Rebels. However, a lot of fans have poo-pooed on the franchise because of the newest trilogy of movies just didn’t live up to their expectations and how it ruined their childhood.

Never mind the fact that George Lucas won’t let fans re-live their childhood by releasing the original version of the first Star Wars Trilogy. That’s because he commanded that only the Special Editions are going to be made available from here on out.

From what I know, the Star Wars Original Trilogy that’s on Disney+ is still based on the Special Editions. Which means it has a lot of changes, like Hayden Christensen appearing as Anakin Skywalker’s Force ghost at the end of Return of the Jedi as well as eliminating the shot of Han shooting Greedo first in A New Hope, from the original theatrical cuts of the film. George Lucas prefers the updated films because this is, according to him, what he really wants. Well, what about what the fans want, George?

Of course, I wouldn’t be surprised if, one day, Disney finally announces that they are re-releasing the original theatrical cuts of the original Star Wars Trilogy years later. After all, that would make fans simply start throwing money at them if they did so. But it looks like Disney is still under Lucas’ Jedi Mind Trick and will not make that smart decision anytime soon.

Oh, while we’re on the topic of Star Wars…

BONUS: The Star Wars Holiday Special

We will never forget this exists. You hear me, George Lucas? Never!

No matter how much George Lucas would want to destroy every copy of the Star Wars Holiday Special, like the proverbial cockroach, he can’t kill it. I’m not saying it’s good. I’m saying it’s so bad it’s good! Which does make me wonder why Disney isn’t showing this on Disney+.

What other movies in Disney’s catalog do you think will never air on their streaming service? Let me know in the comments section below!